Letter or similar file.



No. 725,484. PATBNTBD APR. 14, 1903,

w. J. RICHARDSON.

LETTER 0R SIMILAR FILE.

AAAAAAAAA ON'IILED SEPT. 2, 1902.

OOOOOOO L.

PATENTED APR. 14, 1903.

W. J. RICHARDSON.

LETTER OR SIMILAR FILE.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 2. 1902.

no MODEL.

NITED" STATES V PATENT OFFIQE.

WILLIAM J. RICHARDSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

LETTER OR SIMILAR FILE.

SBEGIFIOATION formingpart of Letters Patent No; 725,484, dated April 14,1903.

Application filed SeptemberZ, 1902. Serial Nn.12l.909. (N0 model.) I

To all whom it may concern.- i

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JAMES RICH- ARDSON, a subject of the King ofEngland, residing at London, England, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in or Relating to Letter or Similar Files, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to letter and similar files, and has for itsobject to provide a file geth er and carry threaders for the docu ments,

the threaders on one member being preferably in the form of bent orcurvedwires and on the other tubes into which the wires pass, so thatwhen the file is closed the documents are all retained by thetubeandwhen in inspection position the wires are partially withdrawn fromthe tubes.

The cover of the fileis provided with a narrow back portion after themanner of a book,

and this back portion is provided with a central longitudinal fold orcrease which when the file is open allows the back to be folded inwardupon itself to correspond with the hinges of the file. be readilydetached from the-back after it has been filled and placed in a storingcase or cover, the back part of the cover is provided with headed studswhich engage with. keyhole or other slots in the file, so'that theilatter maybe readily detached, if desired,-or the file may be connectedpermanently to the cover, which may be in the form of a box provided inits back portion with a central lonas .shown in Fig. l, the portions A Aare gitudinal fold. One member of the file is provided with a detentwhich engages with the other memberof the file to lock the partstogether, but in such a manner that the file can move from thefully-closed to the intermediate position Without the detent requiringto be operated, and the detent is providedwith a portion which extendsto the outside of the file, so that it may be operated externally.

In order that the file may- Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective view of the file in its fully-open position. Fig. 2 is asimilar view showing the parts iuposition for examining the documentsin. thefile; Fig. 3, a cross-section showing the file in its closedposition, and Fig. 4 shows a modified form of cover for the file.

.When the sides B of the cover are in a closed position, they lie closeagainst theupturned parts of the portions A A The threadingwires orthreaders A? are soldered or other- Wise connected to the upturned'partof the ortion A and are bent to an arc of a circle,

so that when the file is closed they enter the threading-tubes orthreaders A ,-which are carried by the upturned part of the portion-AThe hook or detent A is pivoted at A to the portion A, and a spring Ahaving one end attached to the hook and another to the file, is bentaround a pivot-pin A in order to retain the hook in a position toengagewith an inwardly-extending projection A on the portion A of thefile. This hook prevents the file from opening beyond the intermediateor inspection position, as shown inFig. 2, and when it is desired toopen the file farther the end A of the hook, which extends through a'slotA to the outside of the file, can be operated by hand withoutdisturbing the papers :to release theparts and allow the threadingjwiresto be withdrawn from the tubes.

-When the file is in the fully-open position,

folded back toward each other on their hinge A the back of the coverbeing foldedinward along its central division B to lie between theportions A A so that the wires and tubes are clear of one'another,permitting letters or other documents to be readilyplaced onto orremoved from the file. a

Inthe intermediate or inspection position (shown in Fig. 2) the back ofthe cover is flat and the wires are partially withdrawn from the tubes,thereby increasing the space between the upturned part or edges of theportions A and A and allowing greater space for the documents in thefile to be separated and inspected without requiring to be removed fromthe threading wires and tubes. In this position the portions A and A areretained by the hook A the point of which engages with the projection Aand the file can be removed from the cover without danger of its openingand papers becoming displaced.

In the closed position (shown in Fig. 3) the wires are fully insertedinto the threadingtubes, and the point of the hook moves along theportion A but is still in aposition to engage with the projection Awhenever the file is opened.

Instead of providing the tile with a cover which can be folded along acentral division in order to lie flat for convenience in storing orpacking, the file being removable from the cover for this purpose, thefile may be at tached to a cover which, as shown in Fig. 4, is in theform of a box 0. As will be noticed, the back portion 0' of this box isattached to the body C only along its lower edge and is connected to thelid C along its upper edge, the end parts being free, so that when it isdesired to inspect the documents on the file or to remove some of themor insert others the back part is free to fold down and is provided witha longitudinal division 0 similar to the cover above described, so as toallow for the manipulation of the parts of the file, as above stated.The file in this form of cover is preferably riveted permanently to theback part of the box, or it may be connected thereto in any otherappropriate manner.

When the file is removably attached to the cover, it may when all thedocuments are placed upon it be detached by being moved longitudinallyto disengage the studs from the slots, and the file can then, withoutdisturbing the documents, be inserted in a filing case or cover, towhich it can be attached by .studs engaging with the slots in the file,as

already described.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a letter or similar file, the combination with two hinged members,of threading-tubes carried by one member, threading-wires carried by theother member, a detent pivoted to one hinged member which is slotted toreceive part of the detent, a handle on the detent passing through theslot in the member to the outside of the file, a spring controlling thedetent, and a catch on the other hinged member with which the detentengages, substantially as described.

2. In a letter or similar file, the combination with two hinged members,of threading-tubes carried by one member, threading-wires carried by theother member, a detent pivoted to one hinged member, a handle on thedetent passing through a slot in the member to which it is pivoted tothe outside of the file, a spring for the detent, a catch on the othermember, with which the detent engages when the file is in theintermediate position and which allows the members to move freely fromthe intermediate to the fully-closed position, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a letter or similar file, the combination with two hinged members,of threading-tubes carried by one hinged member, threadingwires carriedby the other hinged member, a detent pivoted to one hinged member, ahandle-on the detent passing through a slot in the member to which it ispivoted to the outside of the file, a spring controlling the detent, aprojection on the other hinged memher with which the detent engages whenin its intermediate position and which allows the members to move freelyfrom the intermediate to the fully-closed position, and a cover for thefile and means for attaching the file to the cover, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a letter or similar tile, the combination with two members hingedtogether, of threadingtubes carried by one hinged member,threading-wires carried by the other hinged member, a detent pivoted toone member, a handle to the detent passing through aslot in the memberto which it is pivoted to the outside of the file, a spring controllingthe detent, a catch for the detent on the other hinged member with whichthe catch engages when the file is in its intermediate or inspectionposition and which without disconnections permits the file to move intoits fullyclosed position, a cover for the file comprising side partshinged to a back part having a central longitudinal division,substantially as described.

5. In aletter orsimilar file, the combination with two members hingedtogether, of threading-tubes carried by one hinged member,threading'wires carried by the other hinged member, a detent pivoted toone hinged member, a handle for the detent passing through a slot in theside of the member to which it is pivoted to the outside of the file, aspring controlling the detent, a catch on the other hinged member, withwhich the detent engages when the file is in its intermediate orinspection position and which without disconnection permits the membersto move to the fully-closed position, a cover for the file, comprising aback part to which the hinged members are connected, having a centrallongitudinal division and side parts hinged to the back part,substantially as described.

6. In aletter or similar file, the combination with two members hingedtogether, of threading-tubes carried by one hinged member,threading-wires carried by the other hinged member, a detent pivoted toone hinged member, a handle for the detent passing through a slot in theside of the member to which it is pivoted to the outside of the file, aspring controlling the detent, a catch on the other hinged member withwhich the detent engages when the file is in its intermediate positionand which without disconnection permits the file to move to itsfully-closed position, a cover for the file, comprising a back parthaving a central longitudinal division' and side parts hinged to theback parts, and means for detachably connecting the hinged members tothe back part, substantially as described.

7. In a letter or similar file the combination with two members hingedtogether, of threading-tubes carried by one hinged member,

threading-wires carried by the other hinged member, a detent pivoted toone hinged memher, a spring controlling the detent, a catch for thedetent on the other hinged member, a

cover-for the file, a back part tothe cover, studs on the back ,part,keyhole-slots in the hinged members engaging with the studs, side partshinged to the back part and a central longitudinal division in the backpart substantially as described.

8. In a letter or similar file, the combination of two members hingedtogether, of threadingtubes carried by one hinged member, threading-wires carried by the other hinged member, a detent pivoted to onehinged member, a handle to the detent passing through a slot in thehinged member to the outside of the file,

a spring controlling the detent, a catch for the detent onthe-othe'rhinged member, a cover for the file, a back part to the cover,studs on the back part, keyhole-slots in the hinged members engagingwith the studs, side parts hinged to the backpart, and a centrallongitudinal division in the back part,

the hinge in the file, and means for c0nnect-' ing the file to the backpart, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

- -W. J. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

HAWS WADE, HARRY B. BRIDGE.

